[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The GreatViews expressed here are not necessarily the views & opinions of ActivistChat.com. Comments are unmoderated. Abusive remarks may be deleted. ActivistChat.com retains the rights to all content/IP info in in this forum and may re-post content elsewhere.

Iranian female police officers, left, beat female protesters, during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 12, 2006. Iranian police beat women at an equal rights demonstration in Tehran Monday, injuring at least one protester and arresting 20 others. The protest was organized by a previously unknown group calling itself the Labor and Communist Party. An invitation delivered to The Associated Press a day before the rally demanded equal rights for women and the nullification of a polygamy law that allows Iranian men to have four wives at the same time. (AP Photo)
_________________________________________________________

PRAGUE -- Iranian police today disrupted a gathering in Tehran of a group of women's rights activists who were protesting legal discrimination. Human rights activist Keyvan Rafi, who attended the gathering, tells RFE/RL that more than a dozen people were arrested.

"There were very tight security measures," Rafi said. "There were maybe as many security forces as [participants]. Some of the women were arrested. [Despite that,] some peacefully chanted slogans such as, 'Laws that are against women should be abolished.'"

The activists were demanding equal legal rights in issues such as divorce, child custody, and inheritance.

Amnesty International today called on the Iranian government to end discrimination against women.

Tehran, Iran, Jun. 12 – Dozens of women have been arrested as State Security Forces (SSF) clamped down on a peaceful demonstration by several thousands Iranian women in Tehran, a protestor told Iran Focus by telephone.

Islamic Regime's thugs attack and assault attendants of the peaceful Women's March
Translation By Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi
Monday, June 12th, 2006

It is estimated that approximately 5000 women and supporting men showed up to the General Women's March at Haft'eh Teer Square in Tehran today. The march which was meant to be a peaceful protest against the misogynist rule of the Islamic Republic was slated for 5 to 6 pm Tehran time (9 to 10 am eastern standard time in the U.S.). The participants carried placards, signs and banners protesting the medieval regulations imposed on women and continued to chant slogans supporting women's, children's and human rights.

Among those present at the march were academics, well-known human and women's rights activists, student leaders, members of the greater Tehran bus drivers union etc. who showed up and were arrested. Among those arrested are: beloved poetess and suffragette, 80-year old Ms. Simin Behbahani who is always front and center, journalist Jila Bani-Yaghoub, Delaram Ali and Maryam Khorasani who are both children's and women's rights activist, Dr. Moussavi-Khoiniha who is the director of the Advar fostering of unity, Atefeh Youssefi, director of the student movement of the Sharif Industrial University and finally, Shorhreh Keshavarz and Azam Elhami who are also both children's and women's activists from the Alaameh University's school of social sciences , In the early moments of the demonstration it is reported that 70 people were arrested but according to eye-witnesses, the regime's forces carted mini-buses and vans full, of mainly women protestors, who were driven away to unknown locations.

Many of the regime's guards and agents were dressed in plain-clothes and passed themselves off as demonstrators until they began to attack and beat the protestors. They had batons, tear and pepper gases as well as all kinds of other chemical agents that make people sick and disables their breathing and vision which was continuously launched into the crowd. The regime's new tactic in their so-called attempt at a "kinder, gentler" way of treating protestors is to send out armed, green-clad female thugs and have them beat women demonstrators. The green outfits (as seen in photos) with nun-like hijabs connect in one piece to the rest of the shapeless shroud.

Oddly a group of the activists who were known as the members of the central committee of organizers of the march, both women AND men, were arrested before they even left their houses to attend the demonstrations; some had received threatening phone calls starting a couple of days ago already.

Reporters Without Borders protested at the arrest and beating of at least four journalists by security forces on 12 June 2006, while covering a demonstration in Teheran of more than 5,000 women. Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee and two women journalists, Jila Baniyaghoob, Taraneh Baniyaghoob, of the daily Sarmayeh, have been imprisoned at an unknown location.

“We condemn the level of repression against journalists,” the press freedom organisation said. “Twelve journalists have been arrested in less than a month and are still being held in custody.”

Jila Baniyaghoob, Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee, Taraneh Baniyaghoob and Lila Farahadpour were all picked up at the scene of the demonstration. Farahadpour was released a few hours later while the three others were forcibly taken away.

They were covering a demonstration organised by a women’s movement against ‘sexual apartheid’ and to press for an overhaul of laws on women. Demonstrators carried banners proclaiming, “We are women, human beings and citizens, but we have no rights! Women’s rights are human rights”.

Police and security forces had already harassed several women journalists last week accusing them of “being the organisers of the demonstration”. They were sent letters and telephone calls and were repeatedly summoned by police. Fariba Davoudi Mohajar, journalist and president of the Association of Young Journalists, was questioned throughout the day of 12 June.

Elsewhere a crackdown is continuing in the north of the country. Abolfazel Vesali, editor of the daily Nedai Azarabadeg, was arrested and placed in custody on 7 June. A week earlier the newspaper was suspended by the courts in Azerbaijan province. It has come in for several penalties imposed by the courts since 2000.

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are both on Reporters Without Borders’ list of 38 predators of press freedom drawn up by the organisation each year.

Last edited by cyrus on Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

Amnesty International condemns the Iranian security forces' violent disruption of a peaceful demonstration on 12 June by women and men advocating an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran. The demonstrators had gathered in the Seventh of Tir Square in Tehran to call, among other things, for changes in the law to give a woman's testimony in court equal value to that of a man and for married women to be allowed to choose their employment and to travel freely without obtaining the prior permission of their husband.

Police, including a large unit of policewomen, reportedly moved in as soon as the demonstration began and immediately started beating the protestors with batons in order to force them to disperse. They detained scores of demonstrators; on 13 June 2006, Minister of Justice and Spokesman for the Judiciary Jamal Karimi-Rad stated that 70 people had been arrested, 42 were women and 28 men, for participating in what he alleged was an illegal demonstration. When questioned about the beatings by police, he said, "if there was any beating, it will be reviewed". Some of those detained are reported to have been released.

Amnesty International believes that those detained may be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally recognized right to freedom of expression and association. If so, they should be released immediately and unconditionally. Amnesty International is also calling for a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the excessive force used against the demonstrators. Anyone found responsible for abuse should be brought to justice promptly and fairly.

The organization once again reminds the Iranian authorities of Article 12 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. This states that "Everyone has the right to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms." The Declaration requires states to "take all necessary measures to ensure the protection… against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration."

On 9 June 2006 Amnesty International issued a statement calling for an end to discrimination against women in Iran and urging the Iranian authorities to ensure that the policing of the peaceful demonstration planned to be held on 12 June was consistent with international human rights standards (see Iran: Amnesty International calls for action to end discrimination against women, AI Index MDE 13/064/2006). Earlier this year, the organization condemned the use of violence by Iranian security forces against women who had gathered to celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March 2006 (see Iran: Amnesty International condemns violence against women demonstrators in Iran, AI Index MDE 13/024/2006).

WASHINGTON -- Iran's delegation to the U.N. Human Rights Council faces being isolated by the envoys of free nations this week after it emerged that its leader is one of Iran's most notorious censors and prosecutors of dissidents who the Canadians hold responsible for acquitting those who raped and murdered one of their female citizens.

The infamous Saeed Mortazavi this week led Iran's delegation in Geneva to the first session of the United Nation's newly reconfigured human rights panel on Monday, even though Iran is not a member of that panel. Mr. Mortazavi is accused by the Canadian government of playing a role in the rape and murder of a woman journalist and photographer, is credited with closing more than 100 newspapers, and was responsible not only for jailing the students who led the July 9, 1999, pro-democracy demonstrations in Tehran but of clearing the security officials accused of torturing them.

To top it off, he is the lead prosecutor in the regime's legal efforts against the Iranian dissident leader, Akbar Ganji.

Already human rights groups, Iranian oppositionists, and the Canadian government have expressed outrage at Mr. Mortazavi's presence in Geneva. A group of activists still languishing in jail following his prosecution of them in 1999 will be writing a letter to the United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, according to Amir Abbas Fakhravar, who arrived in Washington last month from Tehran, where he spent time in various prisons.

At the same time, State Department spokesmen in Washington, the United Nations, and Geneva failed to respond to repeated requests for comment on Mr. Mortazavi's attendance in Geneva, perhaps reflecting the Bush administration's new emphasis on enticing Iran into negotiations over its enrichment of uranium.

The harshest words yesterday came from Canada's foreign minister, who again reiterated Ottawa's contention that Mr. Mortazavi played a significant role in the murder of Canadian citizen, Zahra Kazemi, who was killed and believed to have been brutally raped inside an Iranian jail in 2003 after taking photographs of a student demonstration commemorating the July 9, 1999 Tehran University uprising.

The Canadian foreign minister, Peter MacKay, minced no words yesterday, saying his nation was "disgusted" that Mr. Mortazavi would show his face in Geneva, and that the decision to include him in Iran's delegation to the human rights council "demonstrates the Government of Iran's complete contempt for internationally recognized principles of human rights."

He went even further, noting that the information Ottawa has compiled on Mr. Mortazavi's role in the murder of Kazemi was being shared with the government of Switzerland, hinting that Canada may be rallying support not only for international isolation of the Iranian judge but possibly for his arrest by Swiss authorities.

One reason Mr. Mortazavi is said to be hated by Iranians is his role in the persecution of Mr. Ganji. Last summer, during Mr. Ganji's hunger strike, Mr. Mortazavi spent hours at his bedside, directing doctors at times to force feed him and threatening to send security forces against his family.

Last June, after Mr. Ganji was re-arrested for telling an online opposition news outlet, Rooz Online, that he would boycott the presidential elections that resulted in the ascendance of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mr. Mortazavi arranged for the journalist to share a cell with a hardened criminal.

"Most of the Iranians evaluate this as a show of power from Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Khamenei is saying, 'Okay, I can arrest anyone I want and the world cannot do anything," he said.

Mr. Fakhravar yesterday said Iran had "made a fool of the rest of the world" by sending Mr. Mortazavi to Geneva. He added, "If the world wants to show to Iran that they are genuinely committed to human rights they ought to arrest him at least for the murder of Zahra Kazemi."

The deputy executive director of Freedom House noted that the decision to send Mr. Mortazavi to Geneva demonstrated a new brazenness from the regime. "This is not just sending accomplished obstructors to the human rights council, it is sending a notorious human rights abuser," Thomas Melia said yesterday.

"How he is received by other delegations will tell us about their intentions on reform of the human rights council. It also tells us Iran is not even pretending to be serious about reform. This is clearly giving the finger to the United Nations."

The deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch yesterday said Iran's decision to send Mr. Mortazavi to the meetings in Geneva demonstrated the country's "utter contempt for human rights and the new council." He added, "Iran has just confirmed why U.N. members refused to elect it to the Human Rights Council."

Iran should immediately remove Tehran’s notoriously abusive prosecutor general from its delegation to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Human Rights Watch said today. The prosecutor general, Saeed Mortazavi has been implicated in torture, illegal detention, and coercing false confessions by numerous former prisoners.

“Iran’s decision to send Mortazavi to Geneva demonstrates utter contempt for human rights and for the new council,” said Joe Stork deputy director of Middle East and North Africa division for Human Rights Watch. “Iran has just confirmed why U.N. members refused to elect it to the Human Rights Council.”

In April 2000, Mortazavi, then the judge of Public Court Branch 1410, led a massive crackdown to silence growing dissent in Iran. He ordered the closure of more than 100 newspapers and journals. In 2003, he was promoted to the post of Tehran’s prosecutor general. In 2002, a human rights expert appointed by the old U.N. Commission on Human Rights to monitor the human rights situation in Iran took the extraordinary step of naming Mortazavi publicly in his report and calling for him to be suspended from the bench.

Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in June 2003 while in the custody of judiciary and security agents led by Mortazavi. Lawyers representing Kazemi’s family have alleged that her body showed signs of torture, including blows to her head, and that Mortazavi participated directly in her interrogation.

In 2004, Mortazavi orchestrated the arbitrary detention of more than 20 webloggers and internet journalists, who were held in secret prisons. Human Rights Watch collected testimonies from several of these detainees who implicated Mortazavi in their ordeal, which included lengthy solitary confinement and coercion to make false televised confessions.

“Iran has brought Mortazavi to Geneva instead of bringing him to justice,” Stork said. “This decision should make Mortazavi the poster child for rampant impunity in Iran.”

Human Rights Watch urged Iran to hold Mortazavi to account in particular for the allegations of torture, and to remove him from office. Governments participating in the Human Rights Council session should seek Mortazavi’s removal from the Iranian delegation, Human Rights Watch said, and should refuse to meet with the delegation while Mortazavi remains a member.

All U.N. member states were invited to send representatives to speak during this first week of the Human Rights Council, which was created last month to replace the old commission. More than 100 countries are scheduled to address the body.

Tehran, 29 June (AKI) - A court in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia has sentenced a Kurdish woman, Malak Ghorbany, found guilty of committing adultery to death by stoning - a sentence rarely carried out in recent years. The court also sentenced the woman's brother Abu Bakr Ghorbai and husband Mohammad Daneshfar to six years in jail for killing her lover. Stoning death sentences decreased after international pressure on former reformist president Mohammad Khatami contributed to the end of such rulings in the late 1990s. The punishment was however never scrapped from the penal code of the Islamic Republic.

The Committee for the defence of human rights of Iranian Kurdistan has issued a statement to save the life of Malak Ghorbani.

Tehran, 25 July (AKI) - An Iranian woman convicted of killing her husband and of having extramarital sex has been sentenced to death by stoning. The sentence of Ashraf Kalhori could be carried out in the coming weeks, her lawyer said. With various fatwas, or religious edicts, issued in 2003, some ayatollahs had asked judges to stop giving death sentences by stoning, in favour of alternative punishment. Reports from Iran over recent months however indicate that sentences ordering death by stoning are again being issued: at least five in the past 12 months.

"Fatwas are not enough to stop this barbaric and medieval practice," said Shadi Sadr, a women's rights lawyer. "Single judges are not obliged to respect the fatwas. To stop stonings, we need a change to the law," said Sadr in a telephone interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).

"My client, who has been held for five years in Tehran's Evin jail, three days ago received a judicial ordinance which announced her imminent execution by stoning," she added.

As the lawyer of Ashraf Kalhori she has filed a statement of repentance and remorse on her client's behalf, but repeats that the problem must be tackled at the source and called on international public opinion to mobilise against the practice of stoning in Iran and in other Muslim countries where the laws derive from the sharia or Islamic law.

"In Iran, beyond the specific case of Kalhori, women are very concerned about the return of stoning, which has been suspended for several years," added Shadi Sadr. "For this reason, womens groups and feminists are working on a public awareness campaign to force the government to adopt a moratoriuim on stoning," she added.

"Such a campaign, even abroad, could help us in our battle for the rights of women and against this barbarity" she concluded.